Improvement in coivlbination-locks



W. GILFlLLAN.

Combination-Lock.

Patented April 20,1875.

W/TA/Es SES //M M Mm I THE GRAPHIC C0.PHBTU.*LITH.39&4I'PARK PLACE, N.Y.

Sra'rns rrrcn.

lVILLIAM GILFILLAN, OF SYRACUSE, NEl/l'T YORK.

Specicaticn forming part of Letters Patent No. E62, 161A, dated April20, 1875; application filed July 13,1s74.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM GILFILLAN, ot Syracuse, county of Onondagaand State oi' New York, have invented certain Improvements 1nPermutation-Locks, of which the;

following is a specification:

Figure l is a rear view, with the side of the case removed, with theparts in such position that the bolt can be thrown back. Fig. 2 is avertical transverse section taken through line x ar, Fig. l. Figz is alongitudinal section of the operating-spindle, with the tubularnuinerical disks and tumblers. Fig. 4 is a view of the same, taken fromthe inside of the lock. Fig. 5 is a detached view ot' one of the tubularnumerical disks. Fig. Gis a rear view, with the spur of the check-barresting on the periphery ot' a tumbler.

In the drawings, A is the shell or casing of the lock. B is the bolt,which is thrust forward by the spiral spring bl. 1 represents thespindle ot' a commond knob for withdrawing the bolt. Y b2 isa tlange orlip projecting downward from one side of the bolt near its inner end, asshown in full linesin Fig. l, and in full and dotted lines in Fig. 2.This lip is notched or recessed to receive an arm, h, (see Fig. 1,) aswill be hereinafter fully explained. k is a stoparm, projecting from andat a short distance below the lower edge ot' the bolt B. a al c al are aseries ot' concentric, tubular, numerical disks or dials, mounted uponthe operatingspindle c, (see Figs. 2, 3, and 5,) each having upontheperiphery of its ilange a series ot' ijgures. ln the drawings I haverepresented ten upon each, from Oto 9, inclusive. Each of them haslongitudinal grooves o upon the inner end ot the tubular part a',numbered to vcorrespond with the numbers on the flange.

(See Figs. d and 5.) b are tumblers, four in number, and each mountedupon one of the tubular dials, the dials being on the outside of thelock and the tumblers on the inside. (See Figs. 2 and 3.) Each tumblerhas a spur, d, which may be made to engage at will with either one ofthegrooves 0in the tubular dials, as is shown plainly in Fig. 4. Eachtumbler is further provided upon its periphery with series of notches t'and j, corresponduig in number and position to the grooves in thetubular dial upon which it is to be mounted, as

' flange or lip b2 of bolt B.

in Fig. et. Each dial has apin, c2, Figs. 2 and 3, by means of which thedial can be conveniently rotated. h is an arm, secured tothe innerend'ot' spindle e by a nut, e', the upper end of the arm entering thenotch in the c, Figs. 1 and'G, is a check-bar, pivoted at c. There arefour of these check-bars, and the free end of each is provided with aspur, m, which engages with the notchesz'andjin the tumblers. The lengthot' these check-bars is such that when the bolt Bis thrust forward thebars will, when vibrated about pivot c, pass in close proximity to therear end of stop-arm k. Each checkbar has a spring, n', which serves topress the free end of the bar down upon the tumblers. f is a shaftattached to knob g, and carries a lip,f, which, when turned into anearly vertical position, so as to enter notch a, will lit't thecheck-bars c above stop-arm k, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. By anexamination ot' Figs. l and 2 it Will be seen the arm L serves tocontine the check-bars in their proper position above the tumblers, andthere is roomV for these bars to pass up behind the lip b2. rlherefore,when the check-bars are raised up into the position shown by dottedlines in Fig. 1, which can be done by turning the shaft f until lipfenters notch n, the lock can be used as an ordinary latch-lock, theouter end ot' bolt B being beveled upon one side for that purpose.

ln arranging or changing the combination, first remove the back plateand lift up the check-bars, as in dotted lilies, Fig. 1, in whichposition they may be conveniently held by thrusting the stop-arm lcunder them. 'When preferred, the spiral spring b1 may be taken out, sothat the bolt will remain where placed. Next uuscrew nut e and take offthe arm It and the tumblers. Having determined upon the formula ot'sequence otl numbers upon which to set the locksay 18M-place the tirsttumbler, with its spur d, in the groove of the tubular dial nearest 4:,which groove will be found just to the left of that figure; put the nexttumbler on the next dial, withits spur d in the groove marked 7, and soon; or, it' preferred, the order or sequence may be reversed. lt will beobserved that the spur d is immediately below the notch z', which ismuch deeper than any of the other notches, j, in the tumbler. lt is somuch deeper that when spur m on the check-bars c falls into the notchesi, the free ends of these bars fall below arm k, as shown in Fig. 1, sothat the holt B can be thrust back, and it will be readily seen thatwhen the dials are all turned so that the number 1874 in this order isuppermost toward spur m, the notches i will also be turned up; and thecheck-bars will fall so low that the bolt can be thrust back. The pinsa2 will facilitate the manipulation of the dials; in fact, this lock canbe opened in the dark by any one familiar with the combination ofnumbers employed in locking it, as follows: Turn each dial until the pina2 is on top; then turn it (the dial) to either the right or left, asmay be most convenient, counting` the notches j as they pass spur muntil the proper number is at the top, the pin a2 being placed betweenthe highest and the lowest ligure of the series.

Vhen all of the spurs m have fallen into the notches i, the bolt may bethrown back by either the operating-spindle e and arm h, or by thespindle represented at I.

l. The tubular dials a co1, provided with numbers upon their outerflanges, and with the 4. The combination of the arm I1', the lip b2,

and the check-bars c, whereby the arm h serves sa a guide to insure thatthe check-bars shall enter behind fia-nge b2, substantially as setforth.

5. The combination of the shaft f', provided with the lipf, thecheck-bars c, and the arm k on bolt B, whereby said check-bars may belifted and suspended above arm k, so that bolt B may be operated as anordinary latch-lock, substantially as set forth.

WILLIAM GI LFILLAN.

Witnesses:

E. M. WHEELER, W. F. HALL.

